“We are in danger of losing the art of writing,” said Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Honorary President of Perdana Leadership Foundation in a speech delivered at the Official Launch of the Maybank Foundation – Perdana Leadership Foundation Writing and Photo Contest 2015 at the Perdana Leadership Foundation today. “Young people today use abbreviations when sending text, to the extent that words are written according to sound and not meaning. For example, “4” instead of “For”, “M” instead of “Am”, “U” instead of “You”. I fear that we may lose the ability to write and spell properly soon,” Tun elaborated.

“That is why this contest is timely as it will encourage young people to articulate their thoughts in proper sentences and even to tell a story through photographs. I congratulate the organisers for creating the contest and urge all young people to participate,” Tun said in launching the Writing and Photo Contest. More than 250 students from schools and universities attended the launch.

This is the second time that Perdana Leadership Foundation is teaming up with Maybank Foundation to organise a youth competition and this time, more categories are open to contestants. Young Malaysians aged between 13 and 21 years old can write essays, compose stories or snap a series of photos to participate in the contest. Wonderful prizes await, including up to US$2,500 in cash, Macbooks and iPads. MPH Bookstores is also contributing E-Book Readers as well as book vouchers to the lucky winners. The icing on the cake is the chance to rub shoulders with established authors and photo-journalists at the prize-giving ceremony slated to be later this year.

The contest runs until 16th September 2015.Schools, colleges and universities stand to win prizes, too, if their student wins the first prize or if they send in the highest number of entries. Additionally, prizes await institutions that send in 25 entries and more. More details are available at the contest’s website www.MaybankPerdanaContest.com. For further enquiries, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or call 03-88858953 / 8960.